Springfield-Ten
outstanding Illinois teachers are finalists for the 2000-2001 State
Teacher of the Year
award, to
be presented October 14 by State Superintendent of Education Glenn W.
McGee.

The
finalists are selected from the teachers nominated for the State Board’s
Those Who Excel education awards.The winner will be announced at the Those Who Excel awards banquet
starting at 6:30 p.m. at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, 3000 S. Dirksen Parkway,
Springfield.

Finalists
for Teacher of the Year 2001

Irene
G. Armbruster,
Highland Middle School, Highland.Teaches algebra/math to students in the eighth grade.Ms. Armbruster has been a teacher for 20 years.

Jo
Crow, Metamora
Grade School, Metamora.For
the past 19 years, Ms. Crow has taught science to students in seventh
and eighth grades.

Michael
N. Curran, Rich
South High School, Richton Park.Mr. Curran teaches high school students Language Arts and driver
education.He has been
a teacher for 24 years.

Maria
de Lourdes A. Ibarra, Lincoln
Elementary School, Blue Island. She is a bilingual teacher of first
grade students.Ms. Ibarra
has been teaching for 23 years.

Carl
F. Koch, Riverside
Brookfield High School, Riverside.Mr. Koch has been a high school science teacher for 30 years.

Peggy
L. Latherow, Carthage
High School, Carthage.Ms.
Latherow teaches chemistry and home economics to high school students.She has been a teacher for 17 years.

Mary
F. Neurohr, Illinois
Youth Center, Murphysboro.Ms.
Neurohr teaches Language Arts, Math and GED to high school age students.She has been a teacher for 21 years.

Amy
Oberts,
Bloomington Junior High School, Bloomington.Ms. Oberts teaches math to sixth grade students.She has been teaching for 5 years.

Thomas
M. Steele, J.D.
Darnall High School, Geneseo.Mr. Steele teaches U.S. History, government, and world problems
to high school students.He
has been a teacher for 29 years.

This
year’s Teacher of the Year is Kevin Murphy, a high school physics and
astronomy teacher from Lyons Township High School in LaGrange.

The
Teacher of the Year will spend the second semester of the 2000-2001
school year speaking statewide at teacher workshops, educational conferences
and civic and community meetings.The Teacher of the Year will also receive a lifetime tuition
waiver to state universities and a one-year paid leave to pursue graduate
work.

The
winner also represents Illinois at the NASA Space Camp in Huntsville,
Alabama and in the National Teacher of the Year program sponsored by
the Council of Chief State School Officers and Scholastic, Inc.